Ringfort (Rath), Ballindoo, Co. Mayo

Co. Mayo |

Ringforts

Ringfort (Rath), Ballindoo, Co. Mayo

In a pasture field near Ballindoo in County Mayo, a barely perceptible ripple in the ground is almost all that remains of what was once a small enclosed settlement.

To the untrained eye it reads as nothing more than a gentle subcircular undulation, roughly 25 to 28 metres across, slightly raised from its surroundings. Yet that faint earthwork traces the ghost of a rath, a type of ringfort consisting of a roughly circular bank and ditch enclosing a domestic area, used extensively in early medieval Ireland as the basic unit of rural settlement.

The feature appears with considerably more clarity on the Ordnance Survey six-inch maps of 1838 and again in 1920, where it is marked as a roughly circular embanked enclosure with a diameter of approximately 25 to 30 metres. The fact that it survived, at least on paper, into the twentieth century before being levelled means there is a reasonable documentary record of its shape and scale, even if the physical structure itself has been largely destroyed by agricultural activity. Whether it qualifies as a definitive rath or something more ambiguous remains uncertain, hence its classification as a possible example rather than a confirmed one.

The site sits on a slight rise in the landscape, with the ground climbing gently toward the south-west. That positioning is characteristic of ringfort placement more broadly, where a modest elevation offered both practical drainage and a degree of visibility across the surrounding land. Today, the only physical clue is that low, barely-there undulation in the pasture, the kind of thing that rewards a slow walk across a field and a willingness to look at the ground rather than the horizon.

Rated 0 out of 5

Visitor Notes

Review type for post source and places source type not found
Added by
Picture of Pete F
Pete F
IrishHistory.com is passionate about helping people discover and connect with the rich stories of their local communities.
Please use the form below to submit any photos you may have of Ringfort (Rath), Ballindoo, Co. Mayo. We're happy to take any suggested edits you may have too. Please be advised it will take us some time to get to these submissions. Thank you.
Name
Email
Message
Upload images/documents
Maximum file size: 100 MB
If you'd like to add an image or a PDF please do it here.

Advertisement